First, here’s an update on effects of the spending cap or
threshold on school budgets in Act 46. Action to address this is progressing in
both the House and Senate, although the approaches are different. Whether the
spending threshold is increased by 0.9%, as proposed by the House, or whether
they are repealed altogether, as proposed by the Senate, will probably come
down to a compromise which will be decided in a conference committee of both
bodies.
In the meantime, our attention in the House Natural
Resources and Energy Committee has been focused on the Agency of Natural
Resources (ANR) and its departments including the Fish and Wildlife Department,
the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the permitting processes of
ANR. Several years ago the Legislature
adopted a policy called Results Based Accountability (RBA). This policy
requires each legislative committee to request the government departments and
agencies in its purview to develop metrics to answer three questions with
regard to their missions:
- How much did we do?
- How well did we do it?
- Is anyone better off?
For example, if the Legislature sets the goal of treating
all persons addicted to opiates and allocates money for the program in the
budget, the RBA metrics would include how many addicts got into the program,
how many were successfully treated and at what cost, how many reintegrated as
productive members of society, and how many seeking treatment couldn’t be accommodated.
Following this model the Department of Environmental
Conservation asked its employees what could be done to increase the efficiency
of its operations. One division of the department had a backlog of 1100 drinking
water and pollution control project audits. They estimated that it would take
more than 100 person years to resolve the backlog using the existing audit
process. A new approach was needed to tailor the level of audit to the level of
project risk and streamline the process. The Commissioner at the time, David
Mears, charged his team to analyze the process and come up with suggestions for
improvement.
As a result of this exercise dozens of iterative steps were condensed
to a few necessary ones while retaining the effectiveness of the audits. The changes resulted in a 76% reduction in
the backlog, which is on target to be eliminated by March 2016, an increase in
job satisfaction for the employees involved, a savings of $1.6M returned to the
State Revolving Fund, and the ability to reallocate some personnel to unfilled
positions in other areas.
This success and similar ones in the Agency of
Transportation serve as a model for other agencies of state government. The Legislature hopes that continued
attention to Results Based Accountability will help state government become
more efficient, save taxpayer dollars, and help us get a better handle on the
state budget.
I continue to welcome your comments and can be reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).
